Pardes Faculty Traveling

Building Classroom Community-Classroom Culture

II. Classroom Culture:Making your classroom a place where students
work hard, respect one another and themselves, and do their best.Make sure you systems and routines are age
appropriate taking into account attention span, students with specific
challenges, and culture of the school.

Systems and Routines

1. Entry Routine

Make a habit out of an efficient start to the class.Set up and practice your routine so that you are
available to greet students as they come in rather than having to give them
instructions or get yourself settled.

If there is a packet, have students pick it up from a table
as they come in, or have it on their desks already.

Students should know where to sit- they should not spend
time deciding.Assign seats or have them
sign up for regular seats.

Have instructions on the board if there are specific ones
for that day (sit with your 2 o’clock chevruta).

Whatever they do with homework should be the same
everyday.Take it out and leave it on
their desk, or your desk, or in a basket.

A Do Now should follow.

Homework assignment for the next day should already be on
the board.

***This technique
allows you to be at the door and present as each student walks in.It is a good time to say hello, smile, check
in on a student’s materials, check in on a student’s emotional state, and
generally build relationships.***

2. Do Now

Students should not have to ask- what should I do now when
they enter the class.

There should be a short activity on the board waiting for
them, one that they can complete without teacher assistance.

It should either reflect on a previous lesson, or preview an
upcoming one.

3. Transitions

We often waste a lot of time on transitions.It is useful to set up routines for
transitions and practice with your students.Time them, see if they can beat their time, etc.Give clear and exact instructions as to their
steps.Keep the instructions the same as
much as possible.

4. Organization

Give students time to take out and put away materials
properly.Give them time to write down
homework assignments and put them in the proper place.

Take the time to make sure binders are set up as you want
them to be.

If they can live in the classroom, keep them there.

Keep an eye on which students need more support to stay
organized.

If you show that it is a value, and that you are giving the
time to make it happen, they will respond.

5. On Your Mark

Body language often corresponds to level of engagement.Set a standard for how you expect students to
sit to optimize learning.Sitting up
straight, listening, looking at the speaker, etc.

Students should know what they need to do to be ready to
learn- to be on their mark.

Have a pencil out, desk clear, homework ready, etc.

Set a time limit.

Give students the opportunity to be successful- have pencils
that they can take if they forgot one.In order to help build a sense of personal responsibility- allow them to
take a pencil, without consequence, only if it is during entry routine
time.

Homework always gets handed in at the beginning of class.

6. Seat Signals

Create a signal or system for bathroom requests. However you
decide to do it, make it clear to the students and hold them to that
standard.

If you only want students to make the request at appropriate
times (not in the middle of a lesson), make sure to instruct them on when are
appropriate times.